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News > Chile

Truckers in Northern Chile to Go On Strike

  • "Our aim is not to harm citizens, but we are tired of this injustice towards us," said the Confederation of the Northern Truckers Force Nov. 17, 2022. | Photo: Twitter/@terresPenquista

Published 17 November 2022
Opinion

Lack of security and excessive fuel price increases lead truckers in northern Chile to strike.

On Thursday, the Board of Directors of the Confederation of the Northern Truckers Force announced in a statement the start of mobilizations "as of 00:01 local time on November 21, 2022, indefinitely."

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According to the communiqué, the mobilizations involve "immobilizing all cargo trucks and allowing the passage of emergency vehicles, private vehicles and passenger transport."

"Our aim is not to harm citizens, but we are tired of this injustice towards us," said the Confederation's Board of Directors, denouncing that the reality of the country with the lack of security and the constant economic hikes directly affect the sector. 

The Confederation criticized the Government for the lack of security it should provide. Truckers are forced "to expose themselves to many hours of driving on long stretches of road due to the lack of rest areas." The communiqué says that drivers are subjected to excessive physical effort, "generating collapse and what lately is reflected in the increase of truck accidents."

Confederation of Transport Workers of the North announced that by agreement of the bases, they called for a suspension of freight transport activities from Arica to Punta Arenas, starting at 00:00 hours on November 21, 2022.

This is in addition to "assaults, cargo theft and in several cases even the theft of complete equipment, leaving our drivers in very precarious situations, many times even costing them their lives."  

About fuel prices, they said the constant increase weekly that forces them to raise the cost of their services hurts citizens, resulting in a significant hit on the household economy. 

Discrimination against the sector, which "is the main contributor to the country's development since we transport (food, construction materials, supplies for construction companies, etc.)," is denounced in the communiqué addressed to the government and citizens in general.

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